At Mowden Hall School we take our co-curricular provision very seriously and our offer is far reaching. However, this aspect of curricular provision must not be seen as separated from the academic.
Indeed, I would view it as an intrinsic part of the academic planning at any school that takes the true education of the whole child seriously.
My own offering this term on a Friday is Warhammer Club. On the face of it, it appears to be totally disconnected from mainstream education and is merely a “game” to be enjoyed by those who can grasp its convoluted rules. However, Warhammer is so much more than a game or a club. One of the key themes of Warhammer, as a game, is how it feeds pupils’ inquisitive nature.
“In the age of instant gratification, Warhammer is a much-needed tonic.”
The Warhammer universe is almost endless and children can work through the rules, worlds, codexes and models in a truly independent and genuinely creative fashion. In the age of instant gratification, Warhammer is a much-needed tonic which demands a lot of those who chose to interact with the format. Warhammer has a brand new Welcome to Warhammer website that hosts all of the links pupils may need for each of their games systems and gives pupils and families a great introduction into each one, it’s really useful for particularly inquisitive club members looking for their next challenge.
Warhammer may not on at first appear to be helpful in giving children a passion for reading and improving their skills, but I have found it to be quite superb in this regard.
We have recently begun to stock the library with the new fantasy texts set in the Warhammer universe. By virtue of playing the game, pupils use extensive codex texts and rules cards, all of which contain challenging vocabulary and concepts which pupils would otherwise not be exposed to.
Warhammer has partnered with Black Library again this year with a goal to encourage young people to enjoy reading. User feedback has shown the organisation that they can do more work in this area so they are providing two free eBooks which are available here (in English only at the moment).
“Pupils use extensive codex texts and rules cards with challenging vocabulary and concepts.”
Warhammer have also created a quiz for anybody who would like to take their reading further. Warhammer have been working with teachers to create documents that link in with the national curriculum.
This shows the links between the different aspects of the hobby and key educational markers. It is a really useful tool that helps to show the impact of the hobby in a wider educational sense. The key aspects of Warhammer are: collecting, building, painting, playing and reading.
Within each of these areas pupils are positively educated in terms of wellbeing, life skills, maths, literacy, art, physical development (fine motor skills ), design and technology, STEM and PSHE.
If ever you needed an excuse to pick up a paintbrush and start a Warhammer Club, there it is.